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Greyhounds end trip on sour note

After a game that Coach Sheldon Keefe called their best of the season, the Soo Greyhounds looked to build upon the positives of a big win over the Erie Otters.

After a game that Coach Sheldon Keefe called their best of the season, the Soo Greyhounds looked to build upon the positives of a big win over the Erie Otters.

Instead, they fell behind by a pair of goals early and never did truly recover as they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Kitchener Rangers at the Memorial Auditorium in Kitchener on Sunday night in Ontario Hockey League action.

“We weren’t engaged enough in the game,” said Keefe. “Our guys didn’t seem very interested in playing tonight.”

“When we were engaged and took over the game, there wasn’t much luck on our side. It was one of those games where a lot went (Kitchener’s) way and nothing went our way,” Keefe also said. “It was pretty reminiscent of the game against Erie (on Friday) where everything went out way and nothing went Erie’s way.”

Keefe was also critical of the Greyhounds special teams in the loss. While going 0-for-6 on the power play and giving up a shorthanded goal, the Greyhounds also gave up a pair of power play goals in the loss.

“Our special teams were an embarrassment tonight,” said Keefe. “When you’re not into a game and it’s not your night, you’re special teams need to be able to bail you out. The special teams were worse than things were five-on-five.”

Keefe did say that despite the issues, generating chances was something the Greyhounds managed to do at times.

“Even though we were not engaged, we still managed to generate 42 shots on goal,” said Keefe. “We didn’t have luck on our side in that regard. In the second period there were two wide open nets with pucks laying there for us and they don’t go in for us.”

The loss wraps up a tough road trip that saw the Greyhounds drop two of three, including an 8-6 loss to the Niagara IceDogs on Thursday night.

Jared McCann had the lone goal for the Greyhounds, scoring early in the second period that cut the Rangers lead to 2-1 at the time.

Goaltender Brandon Halverson made 24 saves for the Greyhounds.

Rangers goaltender Jake Paterson made 41 saves.

Darby Llewellyn paced the Rangers offensively with a goal and two assists while Gustaf Franzen added a pair of goals. Mason Kohn and Ryan MacInnis also scored for Kitchener.

Sunday’s game was the return to Kitchener for Greyhounds forward Justin Bailey, who was acquired in from the Rangers in the week leading up to the OHL trade deadline. The veteran forward received a rough ride from fans on his return.

“Bailey got a pretty rough ride from the fans and it was pretty disappointing,” said Keefe. “He’s a kid that was traded and asked to waive his no-trade clause. He’s not a kid that wanted to get out. He loved his time in Kitchener and had no real interest in leaving there until they brought it to his attention. That was tough to see him go through that. I know it’s fans being fans but he deserved a lot better than that.”

The loss drops the Greyhounds record to 38-11-0-2 as they miss an opportunity to officially clinch a playoff spot with a win.

Kitchener improves to 25-16-3-6 and pull to within a single point of the Guelph Storm for fourth in the OHL’s Western Conference standings as the Storm lost in Oshawa on Sunday night.

The Greyhounds return to action on Wednesday night when they host the Sarnia Sting before heading back on the road for three games during the Family Day long weekend.

The road trip will see the Greyhounds face the Saginaw Spirit on Friday before meeting Plymouth on Saturday and Sarnia on holiday-Monday. Saturday’s game marks the final regular season appearance in Plymouth for the Greyhounds as the Whalers prepare to relocate to Flint, Mich. in the off-season.

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OTHER SCORES

In St. Catharines, defenceman Vince Dunn and forward Josh Ho-Sang had a goal and three assists each as the Niagara IceDogs beat the London Knights 9-3. Brendan Perlini added two goals and an assist while Carter Verhaeghe also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. Jordan Maletta and Anthony DiFruscia had a goal and an assist each for Niagara while Aleksandar Mikulovich and Blake Siebenaler also scored for the IceDogs. Mitchell Marner, Zach Grzelewski and Aaron Berisha scored for the Knights.

In Ottawa, Travis Barron had the shootout winner as the Ottawa 67's beat the North Bay Battalion 6-5. Dante Salituro had two goals and three assists for Ottawa while Brendan Bell had two goals and two assists. Curtis Meighan also scored for the 67's while Travis Konecny set up two goals. Miles Liberati had a goal and two assists for North Bay. Brenden Miller, Nick Paul, Brett McKenzie and Mathew Santos also scored for the Battalion.

In Sarnia, Sam Babintsev had two goals and an assist as the Mississauga Steelheads beat the Sarnia Sting 6-3. Jimmy Lodge also had a pair of goals for Mississauga. Stefan LeBlanc and Bryson Cianfrone chipped in with a goal and an assist each for the Steelheads.

In Oshawa, the Oshawa Generals scored six unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes to beat the Guelph Storm 7-2. Michael McCarron had a goal and three assists for the Generals while Cole Cassels and Michael Dal Colle added two goals and an assist each. Bradley Latour and Tobias Lindberg also scored for Oshawa. Givani Smith and Tyler Hill scored for Guelph. Goaltender Justin Nichols made 43 saves for the Storm.


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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